This Face in the Mirror
by FallenRaindrops
Summary: There are many twisted things in life. The figure in the mirror is one of them. Circumstances are often twisted. Being paired up with Kanda on a mission was nothing compared to the twist that appeared in their mission. HP XOver
1. Before the Storm

My first D. Gray Man fanfic!! Wish me luck 'cause I'll certainly need it!!

Warning: This authoress is prone to:

Chronic Fan-girl-ness

Chronic Writer's Block

Chronic Laziness

Chronic Forgetfulness

Chronic Hunger Pangs

Chronic Disinterest

So if FallenRaindrops over here doesn't update for a while, it's because of one of these horrid diseases. She apologizes in advance for any future problems. Please don't kill her.

Disclaimer: This applies to the whole fanfic as I do not enjoy repeating myself. FallenRaindrops does _**NOT**_ own D. Gray Man (belongs to Katsura Hoshino) or Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling). They both belong to their respective creators, much to the chagrin of the authoress.

Story Notes: Let's just say that the hair tonic that fell on Allen was permanent and that Allen will always have long hair. Why? Because I love how he looks with long hair, so the long hair stays! Also, this is post-Komuvitan D. (chapters 160-164) and pre-meeting Cross (chapters 165-latest). This fic was written after 166 (chapter where it was revealed that Allen was the potential host for the 14th Noah) came out. The Harry Potter world is at a point when Voldemort is alive and kicking (post-Book-Five) and near the beginning of Harry's sixth year (pre-Book-Six's-end).

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Start Chapter/

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**September 1– 4:32 AM**

To say that Allen Walker's situation was odd was a major understatement. It all happened just so quickly. Allen simply didn't have time to sit around and ponder how in the world he'd gotten himself into the mess. Now that things had calmed down, Allen could think properly without disruption.

Searching for Innocence was never easy. Today, Allen was on another Innocence retrieving mission. To his utter distaste, he had been paired up with his one and only rival, Kanda Yuu. They both disliked it and they both hated Komui for his stupidity. Couldn't the fool realize that they didn't like each other? No, they _hated_ each other (with a passion). There wasn't a true explanation as to why they hated each other so. It was like how the sky was blue and grass was green. It was an accepted fact of life that couldn't be changed.

Anyways, he and Kanda were headed for Scotland in an investigation of strange occurrences. The area was prone to complaints of weirdness, but the Black Order had to attend to matters of more intrigue. But because of the constant urgings of the locals there, the Black Order finally assigned them this mission. Innocence was the likely culprit.

_~Flashback Hatsudo~_

**August 28 – 3:28 PM**

Allen ran eagerly up to Jerry's ordering window to get some long-awaited food made by Jerry. Fortunately, many people had already gotten their food so the line was relatively short. When it was finally his turn, Jerry made an enthusiastic greeting.

"Allen-kun! It's been so long! When was the last time I saw you? Was it a week ago?" Jerry exclaimed excitedly. Allen grinned.

"Yeah, I've been on so many missions that recently that I haven't even been able to come here for meals. Komui-san just keeps on giving me no rest and all missions. I feel like a mission robot sometimes," Allen replied with a deep sigh. "But now I can finally eat some more of your cooking!" Allen exclaimed while brightening up. Jerry gave Allen a big smile.

"So, what would it be today?" asked Jerry while getting out a paper and pencil. He poised the pencil on top of the paper, ready for Allen's long list. Allen took a deep breath before saying what he wanted.

"Let's see. How about three sugar donuts, two bowls of fried rice, six orders of sliced fruits, eighteen Mitarashi dango, two jugs of orange juice, five slices of fruit cake, two plates of spaghetti, two large sausage pizzas, three bowls of oden, four pieces of toast, nine slices of bacon, eight pancakes with maple syrup, and twenty servings of chicken with your special spicy sauce. Oh, and I'd also like a dessert of twenty chocolate chip cookies, a jug of milk, and three slices of double chocolate cake. Ummm… That would be all," finished Allen. Jerry copied this all down without batting an eye.

"Your order shall be completed right away," shouted Jerry as he rushed into the kitchen. Five minutes later, Jerry came to the window area and opened the nearby door. He pushed two carts full of food and handed them to Allen.

"Thanks for the food!" said Allen gleefully. Jerry just waved and grinned.

Allen walked over to an empty table and heaped all of his food onto the table(s).

"Itadakimasu!" Allen exclaimed over his food. Digging in, he helped himself to all of the delicious foods. In a few minutes, Allen had eaten his meal(s) and was about to leave the cafeteria. On his way out into the hall, he encountered Johnny who seemed to be in a rush.

"What's the matter, Johnny?" asked Allen. Johnny paused to greet Allen.

"Oh, Allen! Just the person I needed. Komui was asking for you earlier. I think you have another mission. Sorry for bringing you this kind of news when you'd just gotten back," said Johnny. Allen sighed.

"Oh well. At least I'd gotten the chance to eat a breakfast made by Jerry before I leave," Allen said. Johnny just gave a weak smile and waved as he went back towards the opposite direction of the Science Department.

"I have to make a delivery for now. I'll see you when you get back!" yelled Johnny. Allen waved until Johnny's figure disappeared around the corner. Frowning slightly at the news of another mission, Allen walked off towards the direction of Komui's office.

Allen arrived there only to find Kanda sitting on the left side of the couch with a mission file in hand. Kanda turned around only to face his rival. Both of their expressions turned sour as they glared at each other. Slowly turning their heads, they faced a nervously smiling Komui.

"…What? Did I do something?" faked Komui. Kanda scowled at him.

"Yes, of course you did. That's exactly why I feel like slicing that fake smile off of your face with Mugen."

"And I kind of feel like strangling you with my Clown Belt,"

Komui whimpered in fear for a while until Reever came in with a pile of papers. He looked at the scene and sighed. Some things would never change.

"Well, anyways, you two are to board several trains until you get to a village in Scotland," started Komui while pulling down a map. He pointed to several red lines. "These are the train routes that you are to take. The last stop will be in a village called Muirkirk. From there, you must travel south by carriage. A squad of Finders has already been deported so they should be ready to take you there when you arrive.

"The cause of the disturbances is most likely Innocence, so there will be plenty of Akuma roaming around. So far, there haven't been any direct attacks, but that's probably not going to last long because there have been more frequent reports of strange happenings such as unnaturally growing plants, unusual weather, and even disappearances of wildlife. And that's the basic summary of this mission. All should be properly detailed in your mission files. Do you have any further questions?" said Komui. Allen and Kanda remained silent.

"Well, then! That's that! The Finder called Tokuda will accompany you on your way there. He should be at the underground waterway soon so get ready immediately after this briefing. But before you go, I wanted to tell you two to be extra careful on this mission. Several people have gone missing this week already, and apparently this isn't the first time something weird has happened in that general area. I want you two to be on guard," warned Komui. He looked at the two Exorcists. Allen was sifting through his mission file while Kanda was polishing Mugen.

"WHY WON'T ANYONE EVER LISTEN TO MEEEE!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?" Komui cried. Allen and Kanda merely looked at him with stoic expressions.

"Fine, fine; just go already," Komui said with a sigh. Allen and Kanda both stood up and stalked over to the door. Fortunately, there were double doors so they didn't have to fight over who would go out first. They went their own ways to get to their rooms for packing.

"Geez, will they ever get along?" said Reever as he passed through Komui's office doors.

"Who knows?" replied Komui who had just finished sulking in the corner and was now straightening his papers.

Meanwhile, Allen was in his room packing. But it wasn't as if he really had to pack anything at all. Most of everything was going to be provided for them once they showed off their Black Order emblem. He merely needed to dress up into his new coat and prepare his pockets with money and snacks. Finishing up with putting on his tie, Allen straightened up his room and slipped on his gloves. He looked up at the painting of the walking clown.

"Well, Mana, I'm walking forward as you told me to. I won't ever stop. Let me trust you. Everything's going to be okay, right? You haven't abandoned me... right?"

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/End Flashback

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/End Chapter

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Review!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	2. Investigation

Hahaha!! I'm slow at updating. Sorry if I take long. Please bear with me!! . But I do have a few legitimate excuses. From 7/20-8/8, I was out of town at a summer program. I was also sick and I've also been reading Breaking Dawn and a whole bunch of other things. I also needed to catch up on all the newly released manga chapters that I didn't get a chance to read while I was gone. And I also need to get ready for school and go to school. And I also am not allowed to do the computer sometimes so that takes off time too. And lately I've had a lot of homework in general. You also have to take into account my chronic laziness. So there are my excuses. So don't bother me.

If you want to complain about legal issues about this fic, see the beginning disclaimer note in chapter one.

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Chapter Start/

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**September 1 – 5:12 AM**

Kanda was getting impatient. Not only was he stuck on a mission with the Moyashi, but he also was anxious because he had a strange feeling of foreboding about the mission. Currently, they were on the first train towards their destination. They needed to jump two more trains until they got to their destination.

So far, the service was pretty good on their first train. Sometimes on other missions they were faced with snobby attendants, but they were lucky so far and had one that was polite and friendly. The Finder that was with them, Tokuda, sat outside of their cabin on a vacant seat meant for bodyguards and was relatively quiet. The three of the ordered drinks and sipped them quietly to occupy their hands while they examined their mission files carefully. Kanda ordered some green tea, Allen chose a glass of apple juice, and Tokuda asked for some water.

The mission file had many details, but there were some holes information-wise. There weren't any completely reliable sources of information, but most of what was said was generally agreed on. There were reports of unusual plant growth, sightings of unknown species of animals, and strange stick-bearing, robed people who often disappeared upon sight. Allen wasn't sure what the stick business was about, but it definitely seemed suspicious. Maybe these sticks were Anti-Akuma weapons...

It also talked about the strange sightings of ghosts. Ghosts were a prominent superstition in this area. They believed that people had a choice of moving on to the after-life when they died, or staying in the living world forever as a transparent being. Allen didn't quite believe in ghosts, but those horror movies were pretty convincing.

The train putted along until it came to a slow stop.

"We've arrived at Rockwell Station. Please watch your step when getting off the train," announced the conductor from the loudspeaker. Allen and Kanda stood up and gathered their things while Tokuda opened the door. They stepped out of the cabin and walked down the hall until they came to the first class entrance. Stepping out, Allen read the sign on top of the station's entrance. It read "Rockwell Station". The three members of the Black Order strode over to the other side of the station to get to their next train.

Stepping on a train once again, they were on their way to the first class cabins. A rude attendant came up to them for their non-existent tickets.

"Excuse me," he said in a snobby voice. He held out his hand, gesturing to them. Tokuda cleared his throat and pointed to the Black Order crest on Allen's coat. The attendant didn't seem to understand for a moment. Another attendant came up to the group to see what was the matter. He quickly identified the Black Order uniform and elbowed the rude attendant.

"These people are from the Black Order, you bloody dimwit!" he whispered frantically. The more experienced attendant turned to the exorcists.

"I'm terribly sorry for his rudeness. He's new here and I'll guarantee to put forward proper punishment for his impudence," he said. Kanda shrugged and turned away.

"See to it," Kanda grunted simply. The first attendant paled slightly at the mention of punishment and Allen couldn't help but to feel smug at the attendant's expense.

_Well, he deserved it._

The Exorcist group was led to their cabin, which was of even better quality than the last train. The two Exorcists sank down into the fluffy seats while Tokuda was offered a comfortable chair outside. The train started up and moved along as smoothly as a train could go.

A few hours later, they were at the last station before they would arrive at their destination. King's Cross Station was larger than Allen had expected. Walking along, he, Kanda, and Tokuda glanced around for their correct train at Platform 9.

As they neared their gate, they saw from a distance the figures of several people dressed in normal clothes. They were talking loudly and were holding onto several large carts full of old fashioned trunks and bags. Most of them had flaming red hair, but one of them had bushy chocolate-brown hair while another had messy jet-black hair. The whole group stood out what with their loud speech and strange conversation, not to mention the snow white owl that was hooting its heart out.

Strangely enough, no one else besides Allen and Kanda seemed to notice their strange behavior. Not even Tokuda spared a second glance in the group's direction. In fact, Tokuda seemed to be focused on _not_ looking there. Finding it quite strange, Allen inquired about it to Tokuda.

"A group of red-headed people?" asked Tokuda.

He looked around him. Allen and Kanda both looked at Tokuda carefully as he turned his head. They noticed that as soon as Tokuda's eyes met the group in question, they slid over them as if they weren't there.

"I don't see who you're talking about," said Tokuda. Kanda narrowed his eyes and exchanged glances with Allen, who nodded.

"Well then, where is the train? The mission should proceed as planned, but actually, I'll be making an investigation here. Tokuda, you should go on with Kanda. I'm going to contact Komui and explain the situation so don't worry about me," said Allen.

"And why should I leave this investigation to you, Moyashi?" demanded Kanda. Allen merely gave him a Cheshire smile.

"Because I figure you might not be able to handle these British people as well as I in the case that you are discovered," replied Allen as he dashed away from the angry Mugen-weilding man.

"Don't forget to check in with Komui, Allen-dono!" shouted Tokuda after Allen. Allen merely waved his hand in acknowledgement as he disappeared around a corner. Kanda merely sniffed in distaste and turned on his heel.

"Let's go," he grunted gruffly. Tokuda followed Kanda silently and made no further comment.

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**September 1 – 5:26 AM**

Allen quickly found a place where he could spy on the strange group without being seen. From that location, he took Tim from his pocket and proceeded to hook him up to the nearby phone booth.

"This is Exorcist Allen Walker speaking from King's Cross station through the golden golem, Timcanpi. May I speak with Supervisor Komui?" asked Allen to the Black Order operator.

"May I ask the urgency of this call?" replied the operator.

"Tell him it's a level one occurrence for an investigation request on a suspicious group of people," said Allen.

"Wait one moment please," said the operator. The line went silent for a few moments before Komui's voice came onto the other side.

"Komui speaking; what seems to be the problem, Allen?" asked Komui. And so, Allen went into a brief description of the people while keeping a watchful eye on them. In the middle of his explanation, however, one of the younger redheads of the group appeared to be preparing to break away from the group along with his cart. Allen broke off his train of thought as the boy started to walk casually towards the wall that stood between platforms nine and ten.

"Allen? Allen? Are you still there?" called Komui from the phone.

"Y-y-yeah! Sorry, I just got a bit distracted. So these people seem to be going to-"

Allen stopped speaking completely as the boy walked straight into the wall without stopping and disappeared through the wall.

_What the heck just happened?!?!_

His eyes widened in shock as he beheld the scene. He looked around him for anyone who saw, but it seemed that the only ones who noticed were him and the rest of the group. He glanced behind the wall to see if it had been just a hologram, but there wasn't anything or anyone behind it. His mind raced to find an answer, but he could only gape speechlessly at the remaining group still assembled in front of the wall. Komui's voice floated up from the receiver.

"Allen? Allen! Seriously! What is going on now?!" demanded Komui. Allen regained his composure.

"Ah, I'm sorry about that. The weirdest thing just happened. One of the redheaded boys of the group just walked into the wall with his luggage cart and disappeared. It seems like the two non-redheads are preparing to go through the wall too. They're lining themselves up as if to go in. Oh, Lord! They've gone through! What should I do? Should I follow after them?" said Allen frantically.

"Calm down for a second. I'm sending Lavi to Gate 4 Entry. Get a gate set up at your location quickly. This will be an investigation only mission. Attack only to defend and don't take unnecessary risks. Mission level is one, but with the current situation, it'll probably escalate up that scale. Make sure you keep track of the progress of your original mission and look out for any signs of connections, though I doubt there will be any.

"Lavi is entering the Ark right now. Is the gate ready?" asked Komui. Allen made sure that no one was looking in his little corner. There weren't that many people to begin with, but he didn't want to catch _any_ attention, especially that of the suspicious group.

"Gate 15 is ready. It should be the red, wooden door with the roses carved in it on the right," replied Allen. After about three minutes, Allen finally spotted the edges of Lavi's coat appear before Lavi himself appeared in front of Allen. Glancing around, Lavi gained his bearings and stepped away from the gate as Allen closed it before anyone could see. Allen looked back at the strange group to check how many people were left.

"That's the group we're tailing," said Allen. "It looks like there's only three of the original eight that were there. They all disappeared behind that brick wall in between Platforms Nine and Ten," Allen informed. Lavi sighed.

"It seems like this investigation will be harder than I thought. I wish it didn't include disappearing maniacs. I'd almost rather be on the same mission as Kanda, though I'm sure he wouldn't have liked that. Oh well, it's time to get going," sighed Lavi as he gestured towards the only remaining member of the group. The adult redhead was already walking swiftly towards the wall.

"We'd better get a move on if we want to keep track of these guys," said Lavi as he stepped towards the mysterious wall. Allen quickly finished unhooking Tim and followed behind Lavi. The man had already disappeared by the time they got close, so they quickly approached the wall without hesitation. Three feet away from the wall, a strange sensation came over Allen and Lavi. It was as if they'd walked into a warm bubble full of cold air.

The cold air felt like ice on Allen's face. He could see that Lavi was in a similar situation. They glanced at each other to confirm their suspicions and proceeded with caution to the mysterious wall.

Slowly, they approached the wall.

They were almost there.

There were only three more feet.

It was getting really close.

Finally… they were two feet away.

When they got to the wall, they first studied it. There didn't seem to be anything out-of-the-ordinary about it. It was a fading brick wall full of small scratches. There didn't seem to be a distinguishing area that might be the right spot to disappear through. Carefully, Allen reached with his left hand for the wall. Instead of landing on the wall like what would normally happen, his hand slipped through and disappeared. Surprise enveloped Allen and Lavi as Allen quickly withdrew his hand in shock.

They both stood in silence for a second before Allen tried it again. This time, he didn't withdraw. He slowly slid his hand through…

…then his wrist…

…then his arm…

…then his shoulder…

…and then…

……

…nothing.

That's right. Nothing past his shoulder would go through. Slamming his body against the wall with only his arm through, Allen tried to get more of his body across, but failed. Frustrated, he stopped and drew back his arm.

"Jeez, what is this?" said Allen. He turned to Lavi. "You try," he said. With a grunt, Lavi tried his luck. He went up to the wall and prepared to touch it. He closed his hand on the wall and met resistance. The wall wouldn't even accept his finger. Puzzled, he turned to Allen. As he turned, his hammer brushed against the wall and fell through.

"Ah! That must be it! It'll only allow our Innocence to go through!" exclaimed Allen. That only served to confuse Lavi more.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" asked Lavi. Allen pointed to his hammer, which was still half in the wall from where it was hanging on his uniform.

"Ah! That makes sense," said Lavi. He took it out. "So, how's that going to help us? Those people might be long gone already so we have to hurry," said Lavi. Allen thought hard.

"Umm… maybe… uh…"

"Hmm... Maybe if we somehow have our innocence to surround us… Allen! Use Crown Clown. Maybe if we can get your cloak to envelop us, we can get through," said Lavi.

"Good idea," replied Allen. He put his arm out in front of him. "Crown Clown, activate!" His left arm changed form and his cloak came out behind him. Determined, he wrapped it around Lavi and himself. They stepped cautiously to the wall and made it through.

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End Chapter

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Okay, I know that was an unnecessarily huge update time for such a puny chappie, but at least it's only been months and not years. I'm finally starting to get a better idea of where I'm going with this so hopefully there won't be so much delay. I do need to work on my school stuff so don't complain too much.

Questions? Comments? Ah, whatever. Just review! ^^


	3. Train Ride and the Butler

Hello people!! Hope you've been excited for this chappie! I'm disappointed by the number of reviews, though I should be nicer since it was such a long update… -_- I guess it is my fault… *sigh*. Just tell me what you think about the chappie/story in general so I can improve more. Well, that's all I really wanted to say, so enjoy the story for now!! ^^ Remember to review!! (I'll remind you at the end of the chappie. ^^)

BTW, it's rated Teen because of Kanda's potty mouth.

Note: There will be a random appearance of characters from other manga, just because I feel like it. They might be a bit OOC and have random roles, but will retain most of their appearance and some/most of their personality. Don't mind it if you don't recognize someone. All the manga that have characters in this fic will be listed, so if you want, you can also browse that manga since if I put it in the fic, it'll most likely be a good manga.

Also, I decided that this fic takes place post-Harry Potter 7, so Dumbledore and everyone else who died in the Harry Potter series are dead.

In this chappie: Black Butler (a.k.a. Kuroshitsuji)

Also, names of places, such as Muirkirk, are likely to be made up. Only some things will be from real life/from the stories that appear.

One more note: time frames might get mixed up for a while since Allen/Lavi and Kanda/Tokuda are separated right now. Just follow along and I'll also try to remember to put up times and dates and such. Thanks for your cooperation and enjoy the show!!

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Start Chapter/

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**September 1 – 7:42 A.M.**

He impatiently tapped his fingers against the train compartment window.

_Why is it taking so long just to get to the damn town?!_

Tokuda was outside of the compartment as usual while Kanda was sprawled out over one side of the compartment. Why did he suddenly have to do the whole mission by himself? Where the hell did that Moyashi go?

The train was nearing the station and would arrive at 8:20 a.m., which was in 15 minutes. Kanda's patience was wearing thin, and he didn't like the fact that the town they were going to would have a whole bunch of country bumpkins who wouldn't know what an Exorcist was. It was annoying when they thought he'd get rid of "evil spirits" for them.

Fifteen minutes passed and the train was now coming to a slow stop at the station. The sign read: "Muirkirk Station". Kanda and Tokuda got off the train and stepped onto the platform. As they came out of the station, they noticed many people milling about. It was morning so there were a lot of people getting to work, selling wares, and going about with everyday business.

They were walking with the crowds of the street. People were shoving past one another and many shorter people were getting trampled and jostled. Tall people could plow right over the crowds while large people automatically had the sea of people part for them. Many people were scared to get caught in front of the ongoing traffic of large horse-drawn carriages, so they opted to squeeze onto the sidewalks while maintaining to streams of people. One stream flowed up the street while the other flowed down.

Such a sight was common to ordinary people of Europe, but Kanda couldn't help but to think that they were such strange people. Why didn't they just rice bicycles or something? It would save so much more time, and pick pocketing wouldn't be such a problem.

Tokuda was more used to such sights since he'd ordinarily been out in the streets of Europe, combing the towns for signs of Innocence. He mingled out in town streets on a regular basis.

Anyways, the two of them kept forcing their way through the crowd, trying to get to their destination faster. With each urn, they bumped into someone and Kanda's patience began to wear down all over again. Many people seemed to run purposely into his path, which served to irk Kanda even more. He shoved aside person after person as they started to shove at him more.

First, it was a small little kid. Kanda forgave him because he looked Japanese. Then it was a short and fat lady with too much perfume on. He made sure to give her a good shove back before she disappeared behind him.

Next came a sweaty ripped guy with no shirt on and a major B.O. problem. Kanda made sure to not touch that guy and instead evaded him swiftly while holding his breath. Poor Tokuda literally didn't know what hit him. Kanda felt bad for the Finder, but was glad that it hadn't been him. He waited for Tokuda to stand before turning to the direction of their destination, but was met with a slap to the face by a bag of bean sprouts.

Instinctively, his hand quickly reached for his sword before he could even comprehend what exactly happened. He drew it out halfway before realizing that the offending face-slapper was a bag of bean sprouts held out by a stout woman. The woman quickly turned her head towards him and uttered a quick apology before being sucked up by the human vortex behind the Black Order pair. Kanda's patience was on its last string. If anyone dared to bump him again, he would dice that person.

His chance to slice came, but not in an expected way. He turned onto Spring Road but was immediately met with a level two Akuma in its Akuma form. It was swathed in a large black hood, but the hood fell to reveal the grotesque face of an Akuma.

"Dammit!" Kanda cursed in irritation.

For whatever reason, the Akuma was also caught off guard, so Kanda used his quick reflexes to jump back from the Akuma. The dwindling leftovers of people from the morning crowd either ran away in fright of the obvious incoming battle or rapidly morphed into Akuma themselves while screaming, "Exorcist!" and cackling in an irritating way. In about two minutes, the small section of street was covered in floating Akuma, and Kanda could finally relieve the stresses of that day. Explosion after explosion racked the streets as poor Tokuda could only barely protect the buildings that held the innocent people of the town.

The Akuma outnumbered the Black Order pair, but because there had only been level ones and level twos, Kanda didn't have to put in much effort. He received an unpleasantly deep cut from one of the level twos, but other than that, his coat was only splattered with mud, dirt, and sweat. The fight lasted approximately fifteen minutes, and the whole thing was very one-sided.

Tokuda lowered the barriers around the area once Kanda had given the signal. He'd finished making sure that there weren't anymore malicious intents directed towards them. From up in the buildings, spectators had gathered in the windows. Some of the children smiled in awe while cheering while most of the adults were scared and trying to hide.

"Did you see that, Momma? That cool man got rid of all those monsters with his sword! Do you think he'd let me have his autograph?" said one boy excitedly. His mother merely smiled wearily and shook her head.

"I don't think so. You should go finish eating, Bobby. You have school today," said the boy's mother while shooing the boy away from the window. The woman gave a half anxious and half frightened glance at the Exorcist and the Finder below before turning away from the window and shutting the drapes.

The Exorcists ignored the audience and continued on towards their designated location.

The two walked along the street until they came to the location, 45 Spring Creek Avenue. It was a relatively normal house, slightly larger than that of the others surrounding. The townhouse was of Victorian style and was painted sky blue. It had a small yard in front of it like the richer houses did, and the gardens it had were gorgeous and neatly kept. It was filled with various flowers from various areas of the world, but all of them seemed to be thriving pleasantly.

The Black Order pair went up to the house's front door and knocked on the door. A few minutes later, they heard footsteps coming to the front, and the door opened to reveal a handsome, young butler.

"Good morning. Would you perhaps be the Exorcists that were called to the home of my master?" asked the butler pleasantly with a charming smile. Kanda didn't return the smile, but did reply.

"Yes, we are. Where is the client?" said Kanda impatiently. The butler's smile didn't falter, which only served to annoy Kanda more. One though ran through Kanda's mind, and that thought was this:

_This guy is too much like _him.

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**September 1 – 8:16 A.M.**

Several hundred miles away, Allen sneezed, which earned him a sharp jab in the stomach. Next to him, Lavi withdrew his elbow and put a finger to his lips. Allen shot him a half apologetic and half annoyed look. It might seem as if it was impossible, but Allen managed it and Lavi understood what the look was. Lavi rolled his eyes and continued to survey the suspicious group from their hiding spot, but was aware of the reason of Allen's exasperation. They were currently hiding on top of the crimson train where no one would have been able to hear the sneeze.

They were using Timcanpi as a spying camera while Lavi's golem, which was hooked up to Tim, displayed the happenings of the compartment below them. They were viewing the different conversations of various compartments in order to try and get a good idea of what was happening. So far, they had gathered the following information:

This was a train bound for a boarding school. ("I wish I had the chance to go to school." –Allen)

There existed creatures called "Muggles" ("Muggers?" –Lavi) ("No, "_Muggles_" they said." –Allen)

They sold strangely named candy on the train.

Some of the students were eating "chocolate frogs" ("What the hell are they?" –Lavi)

Lavi had an itchy arm.

These people kept owls. ("Why _owls_?" –Lavi)

They used wands. ("…" –Allen)

There's some evil guy who mustn't be named. ("…" –Lavi)

The school was called "Hogwarts". (O.o –Allen and Lavi)

They used potions and spells. ("Potions like that of the Science Department?" –Lavi) (*Shiver* –Allen)

There wasn't much else they could gather during most of the train ride. The harsh wind that constantly pressed them because of the moving train was growing colder. The Exorcists were prepared to sneak in between two of the train cars in order to escape the wind. Using a GPS installed within Lavi's golem, they determined that they were probably headed towards the Scottish mountain area. England was typically cool, but the Exorcists had warm and durable coats on so they weren't affected very much.

**September 1 – 7:53 P.M.**

It soon became darker and the brightest stars shone into the graying sky. The first quarter moon lit up the sky with a slight yellow haze as the city lights from far had already faded away to reveal the countryside's clear skies. The slight gray darkened to dark gray-blue, and then to pitch black. Even the dimmest of stars became visible and the two Exorcists became distracted by the beautiful sight. The train itself seemed to slow down, and the rushing wind that accompanied the fast-moving train seemed to now be but a breeze.

The stars were in an array of swirls and tangles. Galaxies that were light-years away focused into view while a tiny, red Mars was visible near the horizon. Allen and Lavi lay on their backs with their eyes fixed on the many stars of the sky. Allen traced over some of the constellations he knew with his index finger while sporting a soft smile on his face. Lavi was relaxing with his eye(s?) half closed. He was mentally taking note of all the names of stars, galaxies, and celestial objects that he could remember, and that included quite a large collection of names.

"Wow," breathed Allen. "You don't get the chance to see such a beautiful night sky very often." He sighed in contentment. Lavi gave a small smile while still staring up at the sky.

"…Yeah…"

They lay in contentment for the rest of the train ride and let golems record the happenings of the train on their own.

---

**September 1 – 8:21 A.M.**

Kanda and Tokuda were led to a small study within the house. On a large chair behind a mahogany desk sat a pretty, young boy of somewhere around 13. The butler strode up to the boy's side and stood with his ever present smile on his face. The boy looked up when the Black Order members entered the room.

"Please, sit down," said the boy, gesturing towards the two over-stuffed armchairs positioned in front of the desk. The pair complied.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. My name is Ciel Phantomhive. I requested for the help of the Black Order in order to investigate the strange happenings near my home. I hope we can cooperate nicely together." He smiled sweetly while sipping from a cup of Earl Gray tea.

---

/End Chapter

---

Well! Finally decided to stop there. Black Butler has entered the story (though its appearance will be minor). I'm gonna go write chapter 4 now!

BTW, if you catch any grammar/spelling errors or something that doesn't make sense, put it in your review or PM because I wanna fix this fic up the best I can. ^^ Thanks in advance! Review now!


	4. Battle Plan

Chapter 4 is here! I'm a horrible updater, I know. I'm ashamed of myself. I really hate how much of a lazy procrastinator I am. But are the chapters themselves good? I sure hope so.

* * *

Start Chapter/

* * *

**September 1 – 8:21 P.M.**

Allen and Lavi were still on the top of the scarlet train headed to this Hogwarts place. The thing is, the train was starting to slow down. From the darkness, Allen could discern several dark shapes drawing close – was that a castle?

Lavi was already beginning to prepare to jump off the train soon. They couldn't stay on for too long or else people at the station would spot their bulky figures. He called Timcanpi back since nothing interesting was being said anyways.

There sight of lights in the distance signaled their need to jump off the train. Right before they were within eyeshot of the train station, the pair jumped off the train and onto the warm, dark ground. It was grassy where they landed so getting off the train wasn't a big deal. The thing was, what should they do from there?

"All right. So we seem to have arrived at this Hogwarts place, but what should we do now?" asked Allen. Lavi turned to the now distinct castle silhouetted against the bright white moonlight.

"Well, it seems like this is some sort of boarding school, at least according to the information we've received. They keep on mentioning wizards and witches… Do you think these people can actually do magic? With wands and all?"

"Eh, I really don't know anymore. I mean, look at that castle! What kind of normal society would use castles?" exclaimed Allen. Lavi coughed while sweat dropping.

"Um. The Black Order used a castle fortress thing. Doesn't that count?" asked Lavi hesitantly. Allen also face faulted.

"I guess you're right. But that's beside the point. We can either follow these students, go back to Kanda, or go back to the Order," said Allen. Lavi sighed.

"Well, option 3 is a definite no-no. Option 1 is okay. And option 2 is suicidal. He's probably really mad at you, Allen," Lavi pointed out. Allen made a face.

"Don't remind me. Well, it seems like following it is. But first, we should report to Komui," said Allen. Lavi nodded and glanced at his golem.

"How are we supposed to report? Does Tim have something that can talk to people without a telephone to hook up to?"

Seemingly understanding Lavi's question, Timcanpi opened up his mouth and bared his large teeth. A holographic projection appeared fuzzily for a few seconds until it seemed to have connected. The projection widened to reveal Chief Reever's surprised face.

"Allen? Lavi?" he asked. "I'll go get Komui," said Reever while disappearing from the scene. A few minutes later, Komui's curly hair came into view as he settled down in front of the computer screen.

"Allen! Lavi! Where have you guys been? The signal on your golems disappeared hours ago, and I was getting worried!" said an irritated Komui.

"We're touched that you care, Supervisor," smirked Lavi. Komui glance exasperatedly to the side.

"Anyways, we've been traveling on top of a weird red train and have been gathering intel on these strange people. It seems we've gone pretty far north of London. They call this place Hogwarts. Can you ask the old man if he's heard of such a thing?" reported Lavi. Komui started quizzically into the air and nodded.

"I'll see to that. But more importantly, what are you two planning to do now? What's your current situation there? The radar says that Timcanpi is transmitting this signal from northern Scotland, but how did you guys end up in such a place?"

"Scotland?! We're in Scotland?! Urgh, anyways, it seems like we're in front of the Hogwarts place that has a huge castle. I don't see anything that looks electric. They're using torches as light. Maybe we're in some sort of rural school? But that doesn't explain why they use a train to get here," said Allen.

"A school? Is that what Hogwarts is?"

"Ah, yeah. That's what it seems. These kids are about 10 to 20 years old and are divided up into "years." It seems legitimate to assume that this Hogwarts place is a school. Strange school it is, too. They use wands, potions, and have owls as pets. If you ask me, this is all out of a fairytale. I mean, wands?" explained Allen.

"I agree with Allen. But I still don't get what the purpose of this school is. Is it a magic school or some thing? Do they learn how to curse people? Hell, is this even a good school? What if these people are allies of the Earl? Are any of these people safe to trust?" Lavi digressed. They all sighed at the exceedingly frustrating situation they were in. Komui straightened up and cleared his throat, which meant that he was going to say something serious.

"For now, you should continue with the investigation. Try not to use your Innocence because there's no telling what these people know or can do. Try to find out if they're with the Earl or if they're just a bunch of imaginative weirdoes. Something tells me that they're dangerous though. Be extremely careful," advised Komui. Allen and Lavi nodded.

"I think we'll go with that plan for now. If we find something new or something, we'll give you a call and fill you in, Komui. Tell Lenalee we said, 'Hi.'" The two Exorcists waved Komui goodbye and the hologram disappeared.

"Well, Allen. It looks like we're going to have to go that way," said Lavi while pointing towards the castle. The children were now streaming out of the train and towards either the lake or towards a darkly lit path that seemed to lead directly to the castle. Allen and Lavi opted to go for the dark path and quickly but quietly rushed forward.

* * *

**September 1 – 8:25 A.M.**

Kanda settled comfortably into the soft armchair and listened carefully to the young boy's words.

"So," started Ciel while setting down his cup of tea, "I have requested the help of the Black Order because I heard that they investigated strange happenings. There have been incidents involving some of my employees that have rendered them unable to work for a while, which significantly decreases my work force.

"There are times when some disappear randomly and without a trace. Others are having strange cases of amnesia, particularly after the disappearances started. My one employee's best friend disappeared, but he now doesn't remember a thing about his best friend. It's as if she never existed in his life. I sent him to the doctor's office to find what was wrong, but there weren't any signs of head injury or poisoning that could make such an occurrence.

"There have also been reports of other companies with the same problems. Here, take a look at this news article from yesterday's paper," said Ciel while the butler handed both of them the newspapers.

Kanda glanced down at the paper and read the headline.

"_STRANGE DISAPPEARANCES AND EVEN STRANGER CASES OF AMNESIA!_

_MUIRKIRK – As of July 28, there have been 42 missing persons and 103 cases of amnesia. For the most part, the disappearances and the amnesia cases have been linked – the people who fell victim to the strange amnesia were close to the people who disappeared. The strange thing about the amnesia is that the memories lost were only of the missing people. Investigators have had 50 of the 103 people examined by the top neurologists of London, but they cannot come up with a logical explanation for this incidence. According to the doctors, there is no evidence of any problems with the patients. None of the victims had injury to the head whatsoever which only serves to make this situation even more bizarre._

_According to a source that wishes to remain anonymous, a several screams were heard from the house on Spring Creek Avenue. A flash of unusually bright light allegedly came from the window and the screams stopped. Police arrived upon the scene after a call was made only to discover the entire family gone. The house is still under investigation, but no evidence has yet been found. Police will continue to –_

_-CONTINUED ON PAGE A12-"_

Kanda glanced over at Tokuda who had also finished reading. Tokuda nodded towards Kanda to show that he was ready. Kanda turned to Ciel.

"Do you mind if we keep these articles for reference?" he asked. Ciel's expression didn't change.

"I don't mind. You may do what you wish with them," Ciel replied. Kanda nodded.

"So what is it that you want us to do?" Kanda asked.

"I want you to investigate these happenings and prevent any more disappearances. My butler, Sebastian, has already gathered information on the other people involved with this case," said Ciel. Sebastian handed a thick folder to Kanda, who took it and quickly skimmed through the contents. Satisfied, he grunted and handed it to Tokuda, who stuffed it into his backpack.

"You two can stay in my house for the night if you haven't gotten a room yet," offered Ciel.

"Alright then," said Tokuda. "We thank you for your hospitality." Ciel nodded.

"Let Sebastian show you to your rooms," said Ciel while Sebastian opened the door for them. The two stood and followed the butler to the second floor.

On the way to the staircase, they were met with a loud booming noise. Kanda's eyes widened as he automatically drew Mugen. The smell of something burning quickly met his nose as Tokuda also prepared for a battle. Sebastian, however, merely sighed and covered his eyes with his hand.

"You can put your weapons away, gentlemen. This is a daily occurrence," said Sebastian. He sighed as Kanda and Tokuda put away their weapons.

Smoke slowly drifted into the main hallway as Sebastian turned to the Black Order pair.

"Excuse me, but I need to make a pit stop to the kitchen," he said. Kanda nodded his head and followed the obviously aggravated butler to the kitchen.

When they got to the kitchen door, they found it half on its hinges with smoke coming out of the door frame. Sebastian stepped into the mess and disappeared into the smoke. Kanda and Tokuda had to cover their faces with their uniform sleeves in order to screen out the jet-black smoke. Someone apparently opened a window because the smoke started to clear out.

Kanda and Tokuda stepped into the kitchen to behold an annoyed Sebastian and a guilty looking cook. The cook was still holding the cause of the explosion – a flamethrower.

Sebastian glanced at the confused two. "Don't even ask," he said. "Would you gentlemen please step out of the room for a bit while I clean this disaster up?" Kanda and Tokuda stepped back out of the charred kitchen and waited outside the doorframe (since there no longer was a door).

A few BANGS and a couple of CRASHes later, Sebastian walked out into the hall, closing the door behind him. Kanda and Tokuda blanched.

_WHERE DID THAT DOOR COME FROM???_

"I apologize for the wait," said Sebatian with his usual smiling demeanor. "I shall lead you gentlemen to your rooms now." With that, he turned and walked back towards the stairs. Kanda and Tokuda could only follow with wary expressions.

The two were led up the stairs and down a hallway until the butler stopped at a white door.

"This will be the Exorcist's room," said Sebastian, opening the door.

The room was relatively spacious with two large windows on the far side. The walls were a soft blue with navy trimmings. The two windows were framed by tasteful red curtains. The sill was large enough to lounge on with deep red cushions edged with gold. The full sized, four poster bed was centered on the left side of the room. It had dark violet sheets, a deep purple blanket, and a snow white comforter. The luxuriously plush pillows were also white and splayed across the bed in a hotel fashion.

Next to the bed was a small oak bedside table with a white lamp situated on it. On the wall opposite the bed was a dresser made of oak. The bathroom door to the right of the dresser was ajar revealing beige tiled walls and an enclosed shower. There was also a white sink and toilet. The closet of the room was situated on the other side of the dresser. It was a walk-in with many empty hangers on the overhead racks.

Kanda looked around the room, with a slightly disgruntled look on his face. Sebastian noticed the look.

"Is there something displeasing to you? Shall I take you to a different room?" asked the butler. Kanda, not wanting to seem like a spoiled brat, refused him.

"No, it's fine," Kanda grunted while putting his things down.

"Well then, I'll allow you some time to settle down while I lead this other gentleman to his room. Perhaps you might want a shower to freshen up?" suggested Sebastian. Kanda gave a slight nod in acknowledgement before unzipping his bag.

"Sure," he said swiftly. Sebastian smiled pleasantly once again before exiting the room with Tokuda in tow. He closed the door behind him and led Tokuda to the adjacent room.

"Here is your room, sir." Sebastian opened the white door to reveal a similar room set up. The only differences were in color and the fact that the whole room was flip-flopped, the bed being on the right and the dresser on the left. The walls were a pale yellow and the curtains white. The bed was green-themed and the wooden furniture was elm.

Tokuda was quite pleased with the living arrangements. They usually were lucky to have a clean ditch for camp while on the field.

"Do you find these arrangements to your satisfaction?" asked the ever- smiling butler. Tokuda answered enthusiastically, sparkles glittering brightly in his eyes.

"OF COURSE! This is the best room I've seen in… well, ever!" Sebastian sweat dropped.

"I'm glad," he said. "Well, then, please proceed to make yourself comfortable before joining my master in the kitchen. You haven't eaten breakfast yet, correct?" asked Sebastian. Tokuda nodded his head.

"Perfect. I shall have your meals ready when you're done freshening yourselves up. Please ring the calling bell when you're ready for me to guide you back," said Sebastian, gesturing towards the rope next to the door. Tokuda could only gape. What was this, a five star inn?

* * *

/End Chapter

* * *

Well, kinda drew a blank after that last line. I've had this for a while... but I couldn't think of how I would fill up the spaces in between my ideas.

Basically, that mean's I'll be having my usual super-long updates. PLEASE DON'T KILL ME!!!

Anyways, you know the drill. R&R Pweaaasseee!!!!


	5. Investigation Complications

So I did half of this chappie right after chappie four, but then writer's block hit me hard. And then school came and it kinda became forgotten. But now I've found my interest again, and hopefully, at least for this chapter, I can give you something worth the wait. Then again, this chappie seems to kinda be more of fillerish… ... I'm sorry.

**Important Note:** I changed my mind again about the post-Book 7 thing. It can't be a good HP crossover without Dumbledore. So this will probably be post-Book 5. It'll follow the very basic storyline of Book 6, but of course, there will be changes. I hope I can be consistent enough…

Without further ado, here we go ~

* * *

**September 1 – 8:38 PM**

They'd been hiking up the dark path for several minutes already and the castle loomed ever so close. They took care to stick to the edge of the path in fear of making contact with the carriages.

Speaking of the carriages, they were quite strange. Each one wasn't pulled by live, normal horses but by creepy skeletons that looked as if they _used_ to be live, normal horses… with wings. They were a bit larger than the average horse, but that wasn't quite as strange as the quietly glowing red eyes coming from where the horse's eyes sockets were supposed to be.

At first, the two were completely freaked out by the strange creatures. The massive skulls swung about, seemingly sensing their presence despite the dark. The two noticed that only some of the students seemed to take notice of the strange horses.

"Ouch! Lavi, you stepped on my toe!" Allen whisper-yelled. Lavi broke away from his musings and turned towards Allen's voice.

"Well, excuse me for not being able to see well. You've stepped on my toes plenty of times already. You shouldn't be talking!" Lavi shot back. He heard Allen sigh.

"Fine. Whatever. Let's just hurry up this stupid pathway. I'm getting really hungry," sighed Allen. Lavi silently complied as they continued on their trek to the castle.

Five minutes later found the two very close to the broad archway that the carriages were unloading near. They crept close to the area, trying to time their entrance sneakily until Allen suddenly drew up his hand.

"Wait. First, we should find a way to blend in," said Allen. Lavi looked hard at Allen.

"You don't mean to-"

"Yeah. We have to."

Lavi's face sprouted a smirk.

_This'll be fun._

**September 1 – 9:16 AM**

Kanda and Tokuda were seated at the table with Ciel at the head. Sebastian was just coming in with the appetizers.

"As Lord of this area, first I would like to hear your plans of investigation," said Ciel as Sebastian put down a platter of greens. A good dose of salad dressing was drizzled onto the salad, along with a few croutons. Kanda shared a glance with Tokuda before replying.

"We would first like to examine the people who have lost their memories," said Kanda. Ciel cocked an eyebrow.

"Examine? Don't you mean interview?" Kanda smirked at the young boy's sharp ears while half-heartedly forking at the lettuce.

_I should have brought some chopsticks with me, _Kanda lazily thought.

"No. It seems that interviewing would be useless. We're going to aim for the cause of the memory loss," answered Kanda. Ciel gave a smirk of his own as if satisfied with the answer.

"Very well then. I'll have Sebastian organize the meetings," said Ciel. "Now, I want to-"

_**CRASH**_

Ciel paused in the middle of his sentence to turn exasperatedly towards the kitchen.

_What broke this time? It better not have been my favorite cup. It better not have been. It better not have been._

Sebastian appeared almost magically by Ciel's side. He bent over to Ciel's ear to whisper as to not disturb the guests.

"My Lord, I apologize but it seems that your most favored cup has been destroyed, along with two china tea sets," reported Sebastian. Ciel's expression didn't outwardly waver, but Sebastian wasn't fooled. He could feel the waves of discontent rolling off of him. Kanda and Tokuda merely sipped their drinks in silence, waiting for some sort of announcement.

"Very well. Make sure everything gets cleaned up, Sebastian," Ciel ordered, vein throbbing all the while. "And make sure our dear maid is punished accordingly." Sebastian nodded and immediately whisked himself away. How do you break two tea sets in one go? Shaking his head of those thoughts, Ciel turned back to his guests.

"Where was I? Oh yes. I will arrange for the meetings to be set up for tomorrow. In the meantime, won't you rest until then? I'm sure your travels have made you both weary."

"If it's alright with you," Kanda started, "I would like to investigate the area for more information on this case." Ciel looked at him with a slightly curious look.

"I don't mind. If you need anything, I shall be here all of the rest of the day. Will your colleague be going as well?" Ciel asked. Kanda glanced at Tokuda before turning back.

"No. I will go alone," Kanda replied. Turning to Tokuda, "You will stay here and prepare all of the equipment. Stand by for any additional Akuma attacks." Tokuda gave Kanda a nod of affirmation.

"If everything is settled, please expect the… _examinations _to begin promptly at eight o'clock tomorrow morning. The examinees will be directed to the sitting room. Sebastian will show you to that room in the morning. Does this suit?" asked Ciel. Kanda nodded, finding nothing wrong with the arrangement.

"Then I expect to see you both at breakfast tomorrow. Good day." Ciel bid them goodbye before standing from the table. Sebastian was immediately at his side, leading him out of the room.

Kanda and Tokuda spent the next ten minutes finishing their breakfasts before polishing their plates and heading to their respective duties.

* * *

**September 1 - 8:47 P.M.**

"These don't feel bad at all," commented Lavi, straightening the black robe onto his shoulders. The two of them had taken off their heavy Exorcist uniform overcoats, keeping only the under armor that they usually wore underneath. The wizard robes didn't have buttons or zippers in the front, so their under armor was visible. It didn't matter too much because unless one looked closely, they looked like normal street clothes. In all, they would blend in pretty well with the students. Despite this, Allen wasn't as enthusiastic.

"I feel like a bloody cosplayer," he groaned. Lavi glanced over at him while removing his green headband. He figured it would stand out.

"Oh, c'mon. It's not that bad. Everyone there will be dressed like this, so it's not like you're going to stand out. Then again, with that hair… Perhaps we should dye it," Lavi pondered. Allen threw him a harsh glare.

"No more messing with Allen's hair. I've had enough of things happening to my hair. No matter how many times I cut it, it just keeps growing back!" Allen sobbed. Lavi tried to console him.

"Dude, calm down. It doesn't look bad at all. In fact, I think it might have even been an improvement! But let's not worry about that for now. At least you're better off than the poor sucker who owned these clothes," Lavi said. Allen stopped his sob session and looked towards the old-fashioned trunk lying him front of them.

"I suppose so. What do you reckon we do with it now? The carriage it was on is long gone and I don't see any luggage unloading areas down where the students are getting off. In fact, it seems like they don't even take them in. How about we leave it on its side along the carriage route and make it seem like it was bumped off?" suggested Lavi. Allen nodded.

"That sounds like a plan. But first, we should search this trunk a bit. Maybe we can learn a little bit more," said Allen. Lavi brightened at the idea.

"Hehehe. Time for some more fun!" Lavi snickered. Allen could only shake his head at the red-head.

Lavi carefully dug through the luggage, careful not to spill anything. He sifted through clothes, daily necessities, books, and more. There wasn't really anything of interest, but Lavi decided to pull out a book. Taking it out, he could barely make out the title of the book in the weak moonlight available.

_Hogwarts: A History_

"Hmmm… I think this'll be useful," Lavi thought aloud.

"Look at this one, Lavi," said Allen, holding up another book. "It's called _Dancing With Dragons And Other Magical Creatures_." Lavi gave a long whistle.

"Dragons? Other magical creatures? Wow, this is starting to become pretty ridiculous," said Lavi. He picked up a few more books and looked them over. "I think we should take these too and learn more about this place. If there's a whole school dedicated to this "magic" business, then who knows what more is out there. Maybe there's even a society out there that we don't know about!" Lavi exclaimed. He and Allen shared a look.

"Nahhh," they both said, picking up the books and shoving them into Lavi's messenger bag. They went back to digging through the trunk's contents.

* * *

**September 1 - 9:35 A.M.**

Kanda walked along the sunny streets, keeping his path on the white sidewalks. A few carriages passed idly by in both directions, and the sidewalks weren't quite as congested as when they were coming.

After about fifteen minutes of walking, he left the rich residential area and came upon the town's shopping district. The streets were slightly more crowded than were the streets of the residential area, but it was just enough people for Kanda to not stand out. He was rounding a corner when the golem in his pocket began to vibrate. He took it out to see what the problem was.

Across the golem's eye screen came a message that said, _Incoming Call: Black Order Headquarters, Science Division._

_Komui_, Kanda thought. He looked around, searching for the nearest phone booth. He spotted one on the opposite corner and had to wait a bit before crossing the street. Eventually, Kanda reached the phone booth and got in. He hooked the black golem up to the phone and picked up the receiver.

"Hello?" Kanda said. There was a shuffling noise before that irritating voice came to his ears.

"KANDAAA!"the man on the other end screeched. A vein in Kanda's forehead popped.

"What is it, Supervisor?" demanded Kanda through clenched teeth.

"Well, you see, I was missing my favorite Exorcist, and I don't feel like working, so I thought I'd-" Kanda hung up the phone in irritation. A few seconds later, the phone rang again.

"What?" Kanda demanded again, this time his tone a lot more harsh.

"I-I-I'm sorry, Kanda. I-I was just kidding," Komui whimpered. Kanda gave an exasperated sigh.

"Just tell me the reason why you called," said Kanda. Komui cleared his throat.

"All jokes aside, I have sent off Lavi to go with Allen and investigate the strange people from King's Cross Station. They're currently on an investigative mission together," Komui explained. "I daresay that it'll be a long investigation." Kanda could only sigh.

"Then am I to continue this mission with just Tokuda?" Kanda asked.

"I was actually thinking of sending Lenalee to help you. She's coming back from a mission right now, but I'm thinking of sending a Finder to intercept her and give her fresh supplies so that she can meet up with you right away. If my timing is correct, she'll arrive there by two o'clock today," Komui replied. Kanda gave a grunt of acknowledgement.

"That about sums up the situation here right now. I'll call you again when Allen and Lavi get into contact. I'm not quite sure what they're doing right now, but I'm pretty sure they'll get to me by the end of the day. Is everything on your end going well?" Komui asked.

"More or less. I've been to the Phantomhive residence and the story they've told me seems pretty strange. I'm not quite sure if Innocence is the only cause. Some of the stuff just seems… a bit far-fetched - a different strange from what I've seen before. I'm going to have Tokuda send you the report by fax later, so wait for that. Other than that, the Lord Phantomhive agreed to have an examination of all the related persons scheduled for tomorrow morning. I suppose it would be useful for Lenalee to be here for that," Kanda reported.

"Very well. If that's all you have to report, then I only need to remind you not to touch my dear, sweet sis-" Komui was cut off as Kanda slammed the reciever down once again. He unhooked the golem from the phone booth and stepped out and back on the street, only to be met with a gun to his face.

"Exorcist!" it drawled out. Before it was even able to fully convert to its Akuma form, Kanda sliced it in half and scanned the area for more suspicious people. He found several Akuma in the middle of transforming, so he promptly skewered them all with a strong stroke of his arm. There were several explosions as a result, and the normal bystanders shrieked while fleeing the site. Within five minutes, the area was clear of both people and Akuma, so Kanda returned Mugen to its scabbard.

_Tch,_ thought Kanda. _This place is infested with Akuma._

With that, Kanda strode off once again, heading towards the center of town, a place where there was likely to be the most gossip.

* * *

**September 1 - 8:58 P.M.**

Allen and Lavi were once again sneaking near the dark path, both clad in the same attire as the students of Hogwarts. Lavi was lugging his bag, which was crammed full of the loot from the poor student's trunk. They felt bad, but it wasn't like those things couldn't be replaced, right?

After a few minutes of hiking through the trees by the path, the two Exorcists came back to the carriage unloading spot. Only the last few carriages were being unloaded, so Allen and Lavi were able to watch what was happening without having to worry about watching their own backs.

As they watched the students enter the building, they found that a man was checking off the names of each student as they entered the castle. This put a major setback into their plans. Lavi turned to Allen.

"It seems like we'll have to resort to suspicious behavior again," Lavi said. Allen nodded reluctantly.

"This is too much like a spy movie," Allen pouted. "It's kind of ridiculous." Lavi could only sigh.

"Look, I don't like this either, but we definitely have to investigate this place. I mean, look at all this new information we're getting!" Lavi said in reply. Allen gave a sigh of his own.

"I know, I know. But still," Allen said. Lavi gave him a look before turning back around to the few remaining students.

"Hey," Lavi called to Allen. "It looks like they're about done. We should go look for a window to go through." They quietly made their way towards the castle wall, making sure to keep to the dark, shadowed area. They reached the outside of the castle and examined the area for any accessible windows. They crept closer to the window positioned closest to the ground, which was still nine feet into the air.

"How bout you give me a boost? I'll see if there are any traps or alarms set up if we bust open," said Lavi. Allen leaned down for Lavi to get on his shoulders. He grunted as Lavi found his balance. Lavi took off his eye patch and examined the window. What he discovered interested him very much.

"Hmmm…" Lavi mused. Carefully, he reached for the window, his hand reaching for the edges. As soon as he got within three inches of the window, white mist seemed to form at his fingers as if daring him to go further. He withdrew before coming into contact and jumped from Allen's shoulders.

"What's wrong, Lavi?" asked Allen, rubbing his shoulders where Lavi had stood. Lavi secured his eye patch again and shook his head.

"They've got it completely covered by this mist thing. I'm guessing that it's the physical manifestation of magic. It seems that breaking in from the outside will trigger some sort of alarm. We'll have to find another way in," Lavi explained. Allen sighed as they both leaned against the trees around them to think.

_We need to get past this wall… wall… That's it!_ Allen thought. He turned to Lavi.

"Lavi, do you remember how we got to the train platform with the scarlet train? Maybe we can get through this wall the same way!" Allen explained excitedly. Lavi's eyes widened.

"That might just work. You activate Crown Clown, and I'll keep an eye on the mist stuff. We're gonna have to take this slowly," Lavi said. Allen nodded and activated his Innocence. The sheer, white cloak appeared around Allen's shoulders, perhaps shining a bit too brightly. Lavi averted his eye until the light dimmed down. He then took off his eye patch, making sure to keep his right eye closed before they began.

"Now I want you to approach the wall slowly. I'm going to watch for any signs of the mist reacting," Lavi ordered. Allen gave a nod of understanding and shrouded himself in his cloak before slowly approaching the wall. Lavi opened his right eye and squinted carefully at the wall. Currently, there wasn't anything showing. It was when Allen got three inches close when Lavi saw the mist appear again.

"Stop right there, Allen," Lavi ordered. Allen froze his hand where it was, three inches from the wall. "I want you to move even slower now." Allen made a face at this order, seeing how slowly he'd been approaching before, but tried his best to comply. Lavi came closer to Allen's hand, making sure to stay well out of the way at the same time. As Allen's hand came closer to the wall, Lavi found that the mist reacted only very slightly. It swirled in wavering circles as if not sure of what to do. It was as if the Innocence was confusing the mist.

Curious, Lavi extended his own bare hand at the wall. Three inches from the castle's exterior, the mist found his hand immediately and started to swirl around it. Lavi immediately withdrew his hand. The mist went back to swirling slowly around. He straightened up and backed away from the wall. Allen turned his head towards Lavi.

"Now what?" Allen asked.

"Touch the wall," Lavi ordered. Allen touched the wall gently, and Lavi found the mist to react the way it had been, confused, but not hostile. Pushing ever so slightly, his hand slipped into the thick stones. Allen almost pulled back his arm in surprise, but restrained himself and stopped when his fingers were completely immersed.

"Okay, you can stop now."

Allen dropped his hand and straightened himself up as well. Lavi put his eye patch back on and cleared his throat.

"It seems that the mist I was telling you about before doesn't know how to react to the presence of Innocence. Or rather, perhaps the Innocence is confusing the mist? Either way, it seems that we won't have to break through the windows anyways. If we just do the same thing as before at King's Cross, I think we can get in. If only we knew where we'd end up…" Lavi trailed off.

"Well, if we know how to get in, then it would probably be best to stop for tonight. I'm hungry and tired and I want to continue this tomorrow. We should probably break into the castle tomorrow and camp outside for tonight. I suppose a fire wouldn't be wise either," Allen said while deactivating his Innocence. Lavi nodded in agreement.

"Right. We should camp a bit farther out from the castle. I'll let Komui know what we've gathered so far. You can start our dinner," said Lavi. They made their way into the denser part of the forest and chose a spot to camp for the night. It was far enough from where they had been experimenting to make them look like animals from the view of anyone in the castle, but was close enough that they could find the entrance the students used to the castle again.

Allen cleared a spot where he could lie out whatever provisions they could spare for that night. He picked out the foods that wouldn't be too bad eaten cold and put away the rest. He split up a portion that would be enough for Lavi to be satisfied with and gave the rest for himself. Lavi glanced at Allen's preparations while programming his golem and blanched.

_That pig,_ Lavi thought. But he didn't protest. Beneath his indignant thoughts, Lavi knew that Allen needed as much food as he could get. He finally finished setting up his golem and waited for the Science department to pick up. He then realized how late it was and hoped that he wasn't disturbing their precious hours of sleep.

_Too late,_ Lavi thought as the golem indicated that the other end picked up. Soon enough, Reever's face popped up in a holographic display coming from the golem's mouth. He could see faint bags under the Section Chief's eyes. Those same eyes brightened up as he saw who was calling.

"Lavi! It's good to see you're still safe," Reever said. Lavi couldn't help but to feel warm at the man's concern.

"Yeah, Allen's here too," Lavi said, moving away for a second to show Allen behind him. He moved back to face Reever. "So is Komui there?" Lavi asked.

"Of course! He's coming here right now," Reever replied. "Here he is. You two play it safe, all right?" said Reever, giving them a tired smile before coming off the screen. Komui's face replaced Reever's.

"Lavi! Reporting back so soon?" came Komui's voice. Lavi had almost forgotten how annoying it was. "So what's new?"

"We've found out how to infiltrate the castle. We've also gotten ourselves something like a disguise for the time being. We kinda had to take some kid's stuff, but we've also gotten ourselves a few books about these people, especially this book about the school's history. We plan to break into the castle tomorrow," Lavi explained. Komui nodded his head, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Also, it seems that this magic that these people use doesn't react to Innocence," Lavi added. He explained the experiment he'd performed at the castle wall. Komui prodded him for more information, his interest perked. "My theory is that this magic isn't related to Innocence. These people seem to really have magical capibilities. To what extent, I don't know, but based on my experiment, it seems that this whole castle was built with magic. There are magical alarm triggers, magical carriages pulled by magical creatures, and magical train platforms. Given the fact that there is a whole school dedicated to this magic business, I'm betting there to be a whole society based around magic," said Lavi.

"Considering the uniqueness of Branch Leader Bak's abilities, perhaps these powers are related in some way," said Komui. "I want you two to continue investigating. However, if it ever becomes dangerous, withdraw immediately. If you're cornered, I want Allen to use the Ark. The higher ups might not like that, but this is currently an investigation only mission that only you Exorcists seem to be able to handle. I don't want you two to risk yourselves for something silly. And one last thing, try to make sure what side these people are on. I'm not quite sure if they have anything to do with our war with the Millennium Earl, but we can't be too careful." Komui said. Lavi nodded his head in understanding.

"Good," said Komui, satisfied. "Now is there anything else to report or ask?" he asked. Lavi shook his head. "Then make sure to keep me updated. Be careful." And with that, they ended the connection and the hologram disappeared. Lavi sighed before turning to his cold, late dinner.

"Cold chicken, cold potato wedges, cold water, and cold vegetables. Yum," said Lavi glumly. Allen looked at him.

"Would you prefer giving our location away with a fire? I think not. Tomorrow we can find the kitchens and snag ourselves some food," Allen replied gruffly. They both sighed.

"I know, I know. It just doesn't make this meal any warmer," Lavi sighed. "You heard my conversation with Komui, right?" Allen nodded. "I guess I'll take the first watch and start reading these books. I'll wake you up at around two in the morning. We'll head back to the castle at around five," said Lavi.

"Sounds good," Allen said, licking off the last of his dinner. He stood up and made his way towards the roots of a tree. He gathered some foliage and lied down, using his Exorcist coat as a blanket. He soon fell fast also settled into the nook of a tree and opened up the first book. He took off his eye patch and began a furious session of rapid reading, making sure to keep himself alert at the same time for approaching danger.

The night grew longer.

* * *

And there's the new chapter! I'm finally finished this chapter! Ahhhhh things will start moving faster now I think. Maybe. I hope my audience is still out there~ Review please~!


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